School Concert Spooks
by Jazzola
Summary: A perhaps familiar ghost returns to take his revenge on the gang- and targets something very dear to Shaggy... Part of my series, rated T to be safe as usual. Disclaimer: I don't own "Somewhere" from West Side Story.
1. Chapter 1

A brightly painted van made its way under a large, equally bright banner hoisted up on two trees, covering an iron bar gate and proclaiming that this was the entrance to the Coolsville High School Open Evening ("Old Students Welcome!").

In the rear-view mirror, Daphne was re-curling her eyelashes (just in case) and Velma was checking that she had her glasses case and cleaning equipment with her. After their last case, she was determined that they should go everywhere with her, just in case they were needed (which, knowing Velma, they probably would be). Shaggy and Scooby in the back were saving their appetite for the part of the Open Day which had attracted them- the all-you-can-eat buffet (of course). They had only eaten seven bagels, five doughnuts and a couple of filled baguettes on the way, which was nearing fasting for them. Fred was just hoping to avoid his old teachers and stay in the background while the others went and did the things they wanted to do- for Velma, that was the event in the chemistry lab, for Daphne the dance workshop, and for Shaggy and Scooby the aforementioned buffet.

The van slipped into a parking space and Fred turned the keys in the ignition. The gang piled out and contemplated the sight of the school they had left what felt like such a long time ago. The science complex had had new whitewash put on and the entrance hall had a new set of double doors, but otherwise the school looked exactly the same, or at least it would during the day when there weren't parents and random visitors to the school and the numerous bright banners proclaiming that the Open Day was happening now.

A/N: Some of the chapters will be short, I apologise in advance- this wasn't written for so I didn't mean it to be done in chapters. Sorry again! Jazzola


	2. Chapter 2

There was a flurry round the entrance hall as several people recognized the gang and the van, and some pointed as they went in; Velma smiled as she went through the doors, as usual the centre of attention. Several of the teachers were standing in a huddle in the entrance hall, and as they turned to see what the fuss was about Velma recognized her old physics teacher, Dr Patterson. The professor walked over and started talking with her, and she smiled as in the corner of her eye she saw that Daphne was making for the workshop, and Fred was quietly making his escape out of the double doors again. Shaggy and Scooby looked round for the entrance to the food hall, found it and made to walk in, only something distracted Shaggy first.

Velma broke off from discussing tachyon acceleration with Dr Patterson and walked over to the boys.

"What's up, Shag?"

Shaggy pointed wordlessly to a small poster on the wall. Velma looked as well and burst out laughing; Dr Patterson, seeing what all the fuss was about, also started laughing.

The poster showed a young girl, clearly one of the pupils at the school, with long brown hair and big acorn-coloured eyes, standing on a stage with a microphone in one hand and a bouquet of roses in the other. She was a girl who was very familiar to anyone who knew the Rogers family- Shaggy's younger sister and the pride and joy of the family, Sugey.

"Oh yes, Sugey's doing a little item for us, Norville," Dr Patterson spluttered as soon as he could talk. Perhaps the situation wasn't in itself all that funny, but the look on Shaggy's face was enough to make anyone laugh. Even Scooby was smiling, but Velma realised that laughing probably wasn't the most tactful thing to do right now and hurriedly stopped herself from laughing and tried to put on a serious face. It wasn't easy, as Shaggy was still staring at the poster with a mix of embarrassment, annoyance and disbelief on his face.

"Are you going to watch?" Dr Patterson asked. "Sugey might be a little offended if you were here and you didn't watch."

Clearly Dr Patterson didn't know about the relationship between Shaggy and Sugey. Velma could guess quite accurately that Sugey didn't want Shaggy in the hall when she was performing, a feeling that was confirmed abruptly even as she thought about it.

"I don't want you in the hall while I'm performing! Like, what are you even doing here?"

Sugey appeared suddenly out of the food hall, her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her normally smiley face.

"While I'm doing my solo, you, like, stay out of the hall! Having you there would, like, totally put me off, and I don't want you spoiling my big night! You stay in the food hall with the buffet, you hear? Like, I'm sure you wanted to do that anyway, you freak!"

She turned and stormed away towards one of her friends. Shaggy watched her go with a strange look on his face. Velma realised he was feeling upset and quickly moved to comfort him. Scooby pressed himself against Shaggy's legs and glared accusingly after Sugey.

"She doesn't mean it, do you, Sugey?"

She begged Sugey to relent in her head, and Sugey could see it in her face; her own face softened as she regarded her brother. Dr Patterson watched with interest.

"Shag, like, I really don't want you putting me off. It's nothing personal, it's just that I don't want my big night ruined and I've never sung in front of my family before!"

"Well, maybe now's the time to start," Velma said, quickly trying to help Shaggy. Sugey looked from her to Dr Patterson to Scooby to Shaggy and sighed.

"You can watch if you want, but, like, I doubt you do."

"Like, I do," Shaggy said quietly. "Like, you're my sister, Sugey."

Sugey's face, which had become a little harsh, softened.

"Like, OK."

Dr Patterson caught Velma's eye and mouthed "Family catchphrase?" Velma nodded and tried hard not to laugh as Shaggy and Scooby finally went into the food hall and Sugey returned to her friend, who gave her a strange look and asked, "Are you feeling OK?"

Sugey didn't reply, but she gave the friend a meaningful look, motioned towards Velma and walked away. Dr Patterson looked impressed.

"I knew you were talented with your sciences, but I didn't know you were also an international-standard diplomat! Making peace between those two… I'd recommend a job as a politician!"

Velma laughed at that.

"I'll start training now!"


	3. Chapter 3

Half an hour later and the gang were seated in the hall, ready for Sugey's solo. The hall was jam-packed, and looking to their left the gang could see that Shaggy was looking almost as nervous as his sister standing in the wings, despite the three jumbo choco-banana milkshakes and six éclairs he'd had to try and calm him down.

The choir mistress, a large, sturdy woman who had introduced herself as Mrs Haslam, took to the stage and tapped the microphone. It made an odd noise and she laughed quietly.

"Yep, it's working as well as it ever is."

A laugh rippled through the crowd.

"OK. Now, if you look on your programmes, ladies and gentlemen, you will see that you have the pleasure of hearing many soloists tonight, but now you will be hearing our most popular solo singer. She has done proper concert solos before, but I think you will join me in giving her an incredibly warm welcome to the stage and try your utmost to be a good audience, looking at you, Jason Holmes."

A lanky boy in the back row hurriedly looked up from a PSP and the audience laughed. Mrs Haslam smiled and coughed quietly to get the audience's attention back on her.

"So, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming- Sugey Rogers!"

The audience, and especially Shaggy, started clapping as Sugey took the stage, looking a little nervy but smiling bravely at the crowd and taking the microphone with a confident flourish. Shaggy beamed.

"Ahem… I will be singing a solo from _West Side Story_, called _Somewhere_, for you tonight."

She adjusted the microphone carefully, smiled at the audience again, and motioned for the orchestra to start up.

As it did, Sugey's voice, calm and clear and as pure as an angel, rang out through the packed hall, sweet and high, like music itself:

"There's a place for us,

Somewhere a place for us,

Peace and quiet and open air

Wait for us- somewhere.

There's a time for us…"

Suddenly the hall was plunged into thick darkness; the orchestra stopped abruptly and a teacher at the back of the hall started cursing the faulty lighting in the hall. Someone stood up and tripped over someone else's chair, and Mrs Haslam shouted "SILENCE!", a command which was immediately obeyed by everyone, even the little baby in the front row.

Then a glow started from above the stage, and the eyes of everyone were drawn to it. Mrs Haslam grabbed Sugey's arm and tried to pull her off the stage, but Sugey was frozen with fear.

As the glow grew brighter, the audience could see a human-like figure. But then a light was shone on the figure- and several people screamed.

It was clearly a ghost. A ghost with no head and blood running down its body from the stump that had once been a neck, horrifyingly graphic and enough to scare the most stoical person. It was something from an X-rated horror film. Or worse.

There was a sudden stampede towards the exit. The ghost raised one decayed hand and the doors banged shut, locking the audience in. Shaggy and Scooby, who had been the first ones to get to the door, were suddenly squashed against them as the crowd edged away from the stage and the terrified singer on it.

"This is a warning, Mystery Inc. I know you are here, and I wish to tell you now. You are all my enemies. I swore revenge to you for what you have done to me. You will pay the price- and you will pay it _now!_"

The hall was plunged back into darkness, and several people screamed again. There were two "oof!"s from the back of the crowd as Shaggy and Scooby were compressed into spaces clearly meant for a boy and dog much smaller and skinnier to be able to fit into.

Then Jason Holmes turned the screen of his PSP back on and people started fumbling in pockets for any kind of light. Soon phone screens were fighting the gloom, and someone unearthed a flashlight.

"Check that the orchestra and the girl on stage are OK," someone commanded, and the girl with the flashlight shone it onto the stage. Mrs Haslam was still standing there, her hand clutched on thin air and a petrified expression on her face. The orchestra were clutching their instruments and looking around, some confused, some scared and others curious to see what had happened.

But there was no sign of Sugey.

"Sugey! Like, SUGEY!"

Shaggy forced his way through the crowd and onto the stage. He was abruptly thrown into darkness as the girl with the flashlight swung it round, but the main hall lights came back on again a second later and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

All except the gang and Mrs Haslam.

Sugey was nowhere to be found. She had vanished.


	4. Chapter 4

A thorough search of the hall found nothing. Sugey had gone and there was no trace of her. The only clue the gang had was Sugey's right shoe, a small black pump which Shaggy recognized from the shoe rack at home. And that wasn't even a clue. All that told the gang was that Sugey had lost her shoe when she had been taken.

There had also been a radical change of attitude towards the gang since Sugey's abduction. Before, the people in the hall had been admiring towards them, knowing of their reputation, which as always had preceded them. But now they were acting as though the gang had some kind of contagious disease. People shied away from them as they walked down corridors, whispering behind their backs, and hissing about the strange happenings in the hall, which riled the whole gang but which came to a head when Daphne turned and screamed, "We're trying our hardest! She's very valuable to us as well!" at a group of whisperers, who jumped and stared even more at Daphne. Fred took Daphne by the arm and quietly led her away into a side room, making an apologetic but slightly accusing face at the whisperers. Velma watched them go with an amused look on her own face and thought, _Of course, it would be Freddy who took her away to calm her down…_

She smiled inwardly and decided to check the girl's toilets. Shaggy and Scooby had checked the men's, but it would look a bit strange for them to go into the ladies'.


	5. Chapter 5

By midnight, most of the guests at the Open Day had left, taking with them slightly embellished stories of Sugey's abduction and more rumours about the gang and the school.

All the teachers at the Open Day were helping in the search for Sugey, but after three hours of solid searching and checking over every room about six times, the gang and the group of helpers were forced to accept that Sugey was no longer in the school building. Dr Patterson had called the police, and they had had a quick look over the campus and left. They had heard the tale, and since there was some sort of ghost involved and Mystery Inc. was on the case, they decided they could leave it to the gang. After all, there's not a lot a Taser can do against a ghost.

Velma checked off the last couple of rooms to be checked on her plan of the school, which she was using to organise the search, and sighed.

"Well, that's the search of the rest of the school… we should concentrate our efforts on the hall now. Perhaps we'll find some clues as to how the ghost took Sugey, which would probably help us get her back."

Fred stood up and walked over to the double doors at the back of the hall, which the ghost had so effectively locked the terrified audience in with. He ran his hand over the hinges and shook his head. Daphne, who was watching, stooped and picked something up off the floor.

"A magnet," she said, sounding confused. "But it's so long and thin."

She swung it round and a few pins from the wall holding up some bulletins popped out of the board and whizzed towards her and the magnet. She dropped it hastily and the pins swerved down to rest on the magnet, which had landed on Daphne's shoe.

"And powerful," Velma remarked drily, walking over and picking it up.

Fred looked up at the ceiling and pointed at something.

"Those runners. One of them is broken, and I don't remember them being here when I was here last."

Velma was about to remark that he was generally too busy on the football pitch to bother about going into the hall, but decided that it was the wrong time to get a smart mouth, especially as Shaggy was so worried about Sugey that if the gang looked like they were going off-course from the search he would force them to get searching again. It was obvious that now was a bad time to aggravate one of her fellow gang members and so she focused instead on the runners.

"Those are remote-controlled," she remarked, pointing to a little black box at the back of the runner. "Perhaps the magnet fell onto the floor when that runner broke, and they were used somehow?"

Fred nodded.

"This is only a hunch, but could I have the magnet, Daph?"

She handed it over and he swung it towards the double doors. They banged shut with enough force to throw a human backwards, even a sturdily built one like Fred.

"That solves that," he said, holding it up towards the broken runner. It was clearly where the magnet had been before, as the shape of the magnet matched the shape of the object the runner had held exactly.

Velma nodded. "First clue. Well deduced, Freddy."

Normally he would have made some jokey remark back, but the tension and worry in the hall was enough to take away anyone's sense of humour for a while.

Shaggy, who was looking around the stage, had also found something.

"Like, Velms, has this come from some kind of experiment or something?"

He held up the case of a pellet-like thing and Velma walked over to see it more clearly.

"I have no idea. I don't think it's to do with anything in the school lab."

Daphne surveyed it as well.

"Maybe it's from some kind of bean? Do they eat school meals in here?"

"If it is, I doubt that they have the stage up all the time. There's a reason why it's collapsible. No, I think that is something linked with Sugey's disappearance, and we'll probably be able to tie it in later somehow."

The headmaster and Dr Patterson walked in, both looking worried and strained. The headmaster, Mr Green, kept glancing at the stage and Shaggy alternately, as if he was worried that one of them would blow up or something. Velma took the pellet case over to Dr Patterson and asked if he knew what it was. Dr Patterson shook his head, but Mr Green looked over and recognised the pellet case.

"That's the case of an Omega 3 supplement pill. Some people with medical conditions have to take them; others just take them because they're good for them. A man I know takes them because he has heart disease."

Velma nodded. Dr Patterson looked impressed.

"Thanks, Mr Green."

"Anything that'll get us Sugey back safe and sound… Oh goodness, I hope the press haven't caught wind of this, that's the last thing the school needs after the fire in the drama hall…"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," Daphne said, nodding. "Arson isn't exactly the school's fault, Mr Green."

Mr Green shook his head.

"Did the press care?"

Velma nodded.

"You have a point there, Mr Green. We'll keep this one from the press for now, but one of the guests might have been a reporter, or it might get out that way. What did you say to the police?"

"I said not to notify the press."


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, it didn't work," Fred commented the following morning, as they tuned into the radio from the van on their way to the school. All the headlines were about Sugey's abduction and possible ghost involvement. The gang guessed that their name might crop up somewhere, and they weren't disappointed; the fact that Mystery Inc. were on the case was part of the headline itself. One newspaper had even simply said it was a new case for the gang. They hadn't mentioned most of the other facts.

"All to our advantage," Velma said as they drew up outside the school complex and piled out of the van, which was as usual loaded down with equipment they might need and the jumbo refrigerator built into the back. The engine cut out just as they parked, and Fred, frowning, tried to restart it. It stayed resolutely off.

"Leave it, Freddy, it's always doing that," Daphne said, getting out and pushing Velma ahead of her. Velma slid to the ground and protested a little, but Daphne wasn't listening; she was already loading the walkie-talkies out of their case. Fred remained in the driver's seat still, staring at the dashboard.

"But I only checked the engine yesterday…"

Trying to convince himself that it was just the engine playing up, as it always seemed to even after its extensive repairs, he too slid out of the van and walked round to check the equipment.


	7. Chapter 7

Splitting up to search their old school complex seemed a little surreal to the gang, when they were so used to old houses and ghostly graveyards; the school seemed like a safe haven compared with them. A school was generally where nothing out of the ordinary happened, and this was the last place they would have expected to find themselves solving a mystery, least of all because it was the school they went to.

It was all in vain, however; the gang regrouped in the hall where Sugey had disappeared to report that they had found a big fat nothing.

"There's just nothing here," Daphne sighed, kicking at the stage with the toe of her shoe. She stubbed her toe on a piece of metal and squealed, doubling up in pain. The next second she squealed again, but this time in shock, as she saw that half of the stage was slowly opening up to make a tunnel.

The gang exchanged glances.

"Like, eat your words, Daphne Blake," Shaggy remarked. Scooby grinned.

"Do we go in?" asked Velma.

"Like, do we have a choice?" Shaggy replied, looking down and trying to hide his fear.

Velma nodded and started the descent, followed by Fred and Daphne. Shaggy and Scooby brought up the rear.

The steps were slippery and uneven, and there was a good chance that Daphne would have slipped on them anyway even if her toe was not still aching and throbbing horribly. As it was, it was, and she slipped about halfway down and fell into Fred, unable to grab hold of anything or regain her footing. He yelled and crashed into Velma, and they fell together to the floor, where they lay in a heap, half-stunned by the rapid fall and Velma and Fred crushed beneath Daphne. Shaggy and Scooby, upon hearing the yells, lost their own footing simultaneously and ended up adding to the heap in true Mystery Inc. style- clumsy.

"Is everyone OK?" Fred asked, brushing himself off.

Daphne looked over her own clothes and gave a small scream, attracting Fred's attention. He gasped when he saw what she was looking at.

"Blood. There's blood on the floor!"

He backed away a little, initially horrified and slightly disgusted, but she gave him an annoyed look and he went over to help her brush it off her clothes.

Shaggy stared at the little red pool.

"Like, someone got injured…"

Velma looked over as well and tried to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach at the sight of the stuff.

"I just really hope that blood wasn't important."

Shaggy gulped and Velma guessed that she had spoken a little too frankly. She went over and put her arm round him and patted Scooby on the head at the same time. The boys were both still staring at the blood.

"Don't worry, guys. It probably isn't."

She hoped with all her heart it wasn't.

Once Daphne's outfit was fairly blood-free, the gang's attention turned to the corridor in front of them and where it led.

"It could be a trap," observed Fred, peering down and trying to make anything out through the gloom. Velma, whose reactor lenses were not designed for this, was effectively blind.

"Um, guys, I hate to spoil the fun, but I can't see a centimetre in front of my nose… scratch that, I can't even see my nose!"

Shaggy guided her as he followed the others, and she kept one hand on his arm, perhaps squeezing a little harder than she needed to. They were all scared, especially now because of the blood, and it was pitch black and slippery underfoot. Velma hoped that any more blood was safely in the veins of the person it originated from and not on the floor they were now walking over.

Eventually, the gang could make out a rectangle of light, showing where a door was. Shaggy gasped with excitement.

"Like, that could be where Sugey is!"

Fred edged forwards and opened it, and the gang let out a collective sigh of disappointment. It led to a small field which, by the looks of it, was about a mile away from the High School.

Velma was the first to get out, glad of the chance to be able to see again. She looked round and her eyes found a small barn nearby.

"Maybe that barn has some clues. That tunnel wasn't there by chance. I know this has something to do with Sugey's capture. I just know it."

The five walked towards the small structure. From the looks of it it had been abandoned for a while. The field was smooth and unperturbed by cattle or sheep, and the roof of the barn looked precarious and weather-worn. There was a small hole in the very centre, which clearly let in water. One of the sides had collapsed, and when the gang looked in, the floor was covered in sludgy, sticky mud and the other walls were pretty flimsy too. Several wooden planks had fallen onto the miry waste that had once been the field, and there were three holes that looked like makeshift windows but had been smashed a long time ago; there were still fragments of glass clinging desperately to the frames, opaque due to them being brown and dulled and old.

Velma ventured in, refusing to believe that this was not the answer, that they had not found Sugey after all. Fred followed, wanting to have a closer look.

"So. You found my little hidey-hole."

The voice that was suddenly so dreadfully familiar floated out into the barn; the gang cried out and swerved round, trying to locate the source of the sound, but there was no-one around and no sign of someone else near the barn. Velma peered through the windows, wondering if he was outside, and was presented with a view of the blank, smooth field, but no answers to the mystery of the voice. But clearly the owner of the voice would see them, as he continued referring to what they were doing at that moment in time.

"You will never leave. You somehow discovered my tunnel, but you will never go back to that school. Such a shame… The Rogers family will be so upset, both children in two days… Still, I can tell them to blame it on the meddling kids who turned so many good plans around, disappointed so many clever people and stopped them doing what they do best, put them behind bars where the stupid meddling kids should belong for all the deeds they have done…"

The voice stopped, sounding agitated, and the gang could hear slightly ragged breathing.

"But before I go completely, I am determined to take you with me. You will never see the light of day again…"

There was the sound of something moving and grinding slightly against something else, and suddenly the floor beneath Fred's and Velma's feet dropped away; Velma fell immediately, but Fred scrabbled at anything within reach, desperately grabbing a post in the floor next to the hole, but it was slippery with mud and his fingers slipped more the harder he grabbed at it…

Daphne rushed forwards with a gasp and tried to grab his hand, but his fingers slipped through hers and she screamed, "FREDDY!" as he fell.

The sudden, ringing silence was deafening.


	8. Chapter 8

"OOF!"

"Sorry…"

Fred hurriedly scrambled off Velma, whom he had landed on.

"Don't worry, Fred, it's not like you really had a say in it…"

She clung to him, suddenly afraid, feeling the need for a big strong guy to protect her. But to be honest, he didn't look that much braver; he clutched her back, his hands muddy and slippery. Velma frowned.

"How come your hands are all muddy?"

"I tried to keep myself up there by grabbing a post near the hole. It didn't work because the pole was covered in mud, and my hands got coated as well. Sorry, I think I've got mud on you now…"

He hurriedly wiped the majority of the stuff off on his jeans, but she was more interested in the small chamber they had found themselves in.

"Freddy, do you mind me holding onto you?"

"Uh, no…"

He was trying hard to conceal from her the fact that he was petrified and needed her as much as she needed him.

"Good, because I don't mind admitting that I'm scared."

When he didn't answer she sensed something was a little different to usual.

"Are you? Scared, I mean."

"Uh, no…" he repeated, this time unable to keep a little tremor of fright out of his voice. She smiled and folded her arms. She knew him too well, and had seen this before with Shaggy and Scooby, only very rarely.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm scared."

When he still didn't reply, she grasped his arm and started walking towards the wall. There was a little rectangle of light from somewhere; she guessed it was some kind of door, but it turned out to be a little flap in the wall, like a cat flap.

"Why's that there?"

"To make sure we don't suffocate, I guess."

Velma knelt down and put her finger through the flap. Nothing happened, but a little more light came through.

Then Velma hissed softly with pain and yanked her finger back. There was a thin cut on it, stretching from her palm to the tip of the finger and bleeding fairly lightly from what she could see in the light.

"You are trapped. You would do well to remember that."

The voice came again, soft and hateful and the stuff of nightmares. Velma was beginning to feel a slight squeezing sensation in her stomach when she heard it that was a mixture of emotions; hatred, fear, and maybe somewhere a little recognition…

She tried to put that out of her head, although not permanently, and focused instead on the situation they were in. Fred put his hand up to his head, leaning his chin on it with a thoughtful expression on his face. As he took it away, he left a little smudge of mud on his chin.

"Is there any way to somehow climb back up to that hole?"

They both looked up. The hole had closed itself, leaving no trace of the fact that it had once been there.

"I guess that closes the lid on that."

"How are the guys going to find us?" Velma was beginning to feel panicky, and in the enclosed space claustrophobia was setting in. She punched the wall, beginning to get really agitated. Fred grabbed her arms.

"There's no point getting panicky. If you start pummelling the walls or something you'll just hurt yourself."

Part of her knew he was right, but another part, a fairly small part, hated him for being so calm when she felt so hysterical inside. She tried to control her emotions, knowing that getting all het up wouldn't help her or Fred in the situation they were in now.

"OK. You're right. Let's stop punching the walls and start looking for a secret entrance."

She raised her voice a little, to catch the attention of the people outside the door.

"Well, if we're trapped here, there's not much we can do…"

She got up and started the usual tapping of the walls. Fred, grinning slightly, got up and did the same.


	9. Chapter 9

"It's no use; I can't get to it."

Shaggy slumped, panting, against the superficial wall of the small barn. With a slight crack the wall fell onto the soggy floor, taking the unsuspecting Shaggy with it. Scooby laughed as Shaggy struggled up, covered from head to toe in glutinous muck and dripping with sweat from trying to find the hole and his friends.

"Ruh-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee! Raggy rovered rin rud!"

Daphne wrinkled her nose at him. "You need a shower, but I don't want to leave until we have Fred and Velma back. I mean, between them, they sort of solve the mystery, and the rest of us just help, really…"

Shaggy gave her a sideways look, but she was more interested in the ground where the hole had been. She took the spade from Scooby and started digging herself.

"Ro rood, ro rood…"

Daphne gave up as well.

"You're right. Well, what do we do now?"

Shaggy got down on his knees, seeing as he was filthy anyway, and started sifting through the mud, trying to find where the edges of the hole were. He was rewarded with the finding of a ridge, which marked where the hole had been.

"Like, maybe if we got the kit from the Mystery Machine, we could get through there and get them out somehow… Like, it's worth a try, man."

Scooby agreed, with an eager "Reah, reah!" Daphne also agreed, although a little reluctantly. She still wanted to stay where she had last seen her friends. The sight of the pole that Fred had clung so desperately to, however, strengthened her resolution, and she set off with the boys in pursuit, dripping mud and muck everywhere.


	10. Chapter 10

Fred leaned against a section of wall that had felt as if it was cut out before, but now didn't. Or had it ever felt that way before? Maybe he was just desperate, and imagining it.

"It's no use, Velms. There isn't a door anywhere."

Velma, who had been looking over the wall with the flap in it, sighed and accepted the truth of his words. She had found nothing either.

"I guess he really plans to make sure we don't get out. But why does he want us and Sugey so bad?"

Fred shrugged. In the gloom they were now in (the light from the flap had dwindled to about as much as a cheap keyring torch would give) Velma barely saw the movement.

"I'm really tired," he said. "Maybe we should try and get some sleep."

Velma looked at him incredulously.

"You could sleep in here? Go right ahead. I don't think I could."

He bit back a smile and lay on the floor, closing his eyes. She was right- it was harder to sleep in here than he had thought it would be.

"Are you still awake?"

"Yeah. Although I wish I wasn't. When you're asleep you don't care about other things, like where the rest of the gang is…"

"You worry too much," she replied, sitting down next to him. He gave up every hope of sleep and pushed himself up against the wall, tucking his knees into his chest and leaning back against the bleak, cold, hard surface behind him. It didn't do anything for the small amount of hope he had held and was fast dwindling.

Velma looked at the opposite wall and decided that now was the time for the big question, the one she had been thinking about for so long now. She cleared her throat softly and turned her head towards Fred.

"Can I just ask you a question?"

"What?"

"Why are you and Daphne in denial about how you feel about each other?"

Whatever question he had been expecting, it wasn't that one. Blank shock showed on his face for a second before he mastered it and looked down at his legs.

"Um…"

_It would be a lie to say I don't love her, and she might tell Daphne that, but is that better than admitting it? _he thought, suddenly very interested in the seam on his jeans. Velma waited patiently, sensing that he needed time to gather his thoughts and give her a satisfactory answer to the question she had been thinking about for so long. After a couple more minutes, she nudged him in the side.

"Come on, I'm waiting," she said gently, not wanting to push him too hard but wanting to get her answer.

"Well… I don't know… I'm not in denial over anything."

There was another short pause, then he spoke again.

"I didn't think anyone had noticed."

"Freddy. How could I not notice? Even Shag and Scoob have."

"Have you said anything to her?"

"No, but I should, sooner or later. I just want to know how you feel about her first, so that I don't muck it all up and end up with you two getting the wrong end of the stick or something."

He seemed to be considering this for a while, and then said, "I just…"

"Yes?" Velma replied, gently probing for an answer.

"Oh… I'm scared. I don't know why, but I'm too scared to tell her that I love her, and too scared to make the first move… I don't think I could."

Velma was now the silent one, digesting what he had said. He pulled his legs a little closer, as if they would protect him from something, and hung his head a little, his eyes half-closed and directed at Velma, trying to see her expression in the gloom.

"Well. I guess I know why you feel nervous, but… Surely you could drop some hints or something?"

"I don't know… I just don't know."

They sat, once again, in silence. Then Fred looked straight at Velma, his eyes full of something she had never seen before in them, and couldn't quite define. What was it? Defiance? Embarrassment? Sadness? Anger? Humiliation? Or a mix of them all? It made his eyes burn with a fierce light.

"Velma. What I've said here, in this room, for now, I want it to stay between me and you. I don't want you to tell Shag, or Scoob, and I especially don't want you to tell Daphne. Maybe I will make a move, when I'm ready. But I'm not. That's the clincher. I don't know what to do yet, but when I do, I'll do it, and then you can tell whoever you like about this. But for now, while I'm like this, I don't want anyone to know, and Daphne is the one person I want this kept from at all costs. OK? I don't mean to be aggressive, and I'm glad I could tell you, but I want to keep it between us. Is that OK?"

Velma nodded, a smile blooming on her face. She didn't feel any less warm towards Fred for his outburst; she just knew exactly how he felt now.

"Don't worry. I'll keep it a secret."

His whole body relaxed, becoming less tense and drawn-up.

"Thanks."

She smiled again and lay back against the wall.

"No problem."

She was tired herself, very tired, and she wanted sleep. She didn't know how she could want to sleep in this tiny, black, claustrophobic torture chamber, but she was comfortable and warm suddenly, made so with the onset of sleep rather than any change in her situation. She could see that Fred was still sitting with his back to the wall, staring into space, his expression fathomless; but he could deal with his own demons, he wasn't a little child.

As she fell asleep, she thought she heard a tiny, hastily stifled sob.


	11. Chapter 11

When Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby got back to the school and reported two more disappearances, Dr Patterson put his head in his hands and Mr Green banged his against the trophy display case, leaving a small mark on the glass from his spectacles when he took his head away.

"This is like a never-ending nightmare," he sighed, before going off to his study to alert the police that there were now two more people missing on top of Sugey Rogers. Daphne didn't know what to say.

Dr Patterson asked if he could see the tunnel that the gang had gone down, and when they showed him he decided to go along and see if he could do anything to try and find the missing gang members.

"It's in the stage, in the hall," Daphne said, deciding that, since the leader and brainbox of the gang were absent, she would have to take the authority. Dr Patterson gave her a strange look and followed her into the hall, where she led the way to the place where she had stubbed her toe and opened the passageway by mistake. Dr Patterson let his breath out in a slow hiss as she opened it, this time bearing the small amount of pain that she had to endure to get it open.

"If only I'd found out about this…" he murmured, clutching the rail at the side of the stage so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Well, what would you have been able to do about it?" Daphne reprimanded him, seeing that he was about to blame himself for the three disappearances. She had had this before with Fred, and it was hard enough with him, but for her this science teacher was an unknown quantity. She had never even taken classes with him before.

Dr Patterson nodded, as if he was shaking away the concept that it was somehow his fault that all this had happened, and instead led the way down.

The slippery tunnel was no more inviting than it had been before, and there was still very little light. Dr Patterson, after asking nicely (he had figured out how to deal with Daphne and thought it was best to be polite), held onto Daphne as they went down. _I would have preferred Freddy, _she thought as they went down, joined like can-can dancers, _but having a big strong guy is an upside!_ Shaggy, who was holding Scooby as usual, slipped due to his slimy shoes, but he was in such a state anyway that he couldn't get any filthier than he already was. Scooby was also covered in mud, but for a dog it wasn't that crucial.

After what felt like an eternity, the small group were in the barn where the disappearances had taken place. Daphne felt a slight chill as she looked around which had nothing to do with the weather, although the weather was none too warm. She was feeling anxious now; Velma and Fred had been down there for so long. Were they still OK? Or had this guy carried out his threat on them? It all seemed strangely surreal.

The hole was easy to find; all Daphne needed to do was locate the post Fred had tried to use to keep himself up, and that was fairly obvious.

"It's to the left of the pole," she said, as Shaggy knelt in the muck and found the edges that stood out so bleakly against the ground. Dr Patterson, valiantly with barely a thought for his clothes (Daphne wasn't sure whether she approved or not) knelt down next to him and tried to lever away the flap with the crowbar he had brought. He managed to get a tiny amount up.

"Who's that?" came from the floor. Shaggy jumped, but a second later they all registered that it was Velma's voice.

"Velma?"

"Shaggy? Is that you?"

"Like, just stay where you are, Velms, like, we're coming!"

Through the grunts of Dr Patterson, who was trying his utmost to prise the flap up and allow them entry into the room, Daphne heard a voice she had been longing to hear ever since the two disappeared:

"Velma, what's going on?"

"We'll be down in a second, Freddy!" Daphne called, and she wasn't surprised to hear a small exclamation from him.

"Don't! There isn't a way out down here!"

"We've got a rope ladder."

"And what exactly were you planning on fixing it on?" called Velma, who was remembering the pitiful lack of anything to fix anything on in the old barn. There was a few second's silence as Daphne thought it through.

"OK, we'll fix it to… Shaggy and Scooby!"

"Like, WHAT?"

Shaggy and Scooby, who looked completely incredulous, stared at her as though she had lost her mind.

"Daph, if you do that, like, nobody's going to get out of that thing!"

Daphne was undeterred; she simply waved a Scooby Snack under the boy's noses and watched as they became reconciled to the idea of being used as human fixing posts.

"You can have the Scooby Snack once Freddy and Velma are out," she told them, watching in some amusement as their eyes eagerly followed the progress of the Scooby Snack back into her bag and their tongues dropped out in unison. Dr Patterson laughed, but a look from Daphne reminded him that now was hardly a time for laughing.

"Dr Patterson, could you hold onto the guys and give them a little extra hold on the ladder? OK, Freddy, Velma, the rope ladder's coming down now, once it's down we'll have you."

"Who goes first?" Fred called up.

"You, you're heavier. After you, the guys'll have no problems holding Velma up. No offence meant, it's just a fact- more muscles from all your working out."

Fred sighed, deciding that it would be fruitless to retort, and started up the ladder after the thumbs-up from above.

_Like, I hope Daph's right,_ Shaggy thought as he strained to support his friend and not drop him back into the prison, _because Freddy is no lightweight! I don't think I could take two people like him…_

He felt a little guilty about his thoughts, but the thoughts were pushed out of his head as he struggled to keep his friend up.

After what seemed like an eternity to rope-holders, climber and supporters, Fred reached the surface and was helped out by Daphne. She immediately wrapped her arms round him, asking if he was hurt, fussing over him until he physically pushed her away and told her firmly that he was fine. Shaggy signalled with his eyebrows to Scooby, who nodded and grinned, muttering "Reah, reah!" under his breath. Dr Patterson, noticing the exchange, grinned.

Daphne was right; after Fred, Velma was easy. Shaggy barely grunted once as he held onto the rope so hard he was certain it had engraved the outline of the rope permanently on his hands. Scooby, next to him, also held on grimly, hoping that Velma hadn't had that much for breakfast.

Once the pair were out and safe, Dr Patterson rolled the rope ladder up and smiled at the group. Daphne was holding onto Fred, and Velma was brushing the mud off her clothes. Shaggy and Scooby claimed their reward and stood munching.

"Are all rescues as dramatic as that one?" Dr Patterson asked.

Velma laughed, laughing harder as her old physics teacher looked confused.

"No. Generally, they're more dramatic than that!"


	12. Chapter 12

Back at the High School, the teachers were relieved to be able to report that the two missing members of Mystery Inc. had turned up safe and fairly sound, apart from a few bruises where Fred had landed on top of Velma by accident.

"But still no Sugey," Mr Green sighed, leaning against the long-suffering trophy cabinet and wiping his glasses on his fluffy green jumper. Velma nodded.

"She wasn't down there; we don't know where she could have gone."

Daphne rubbed the sole of her foot where she was getting a blister from walking so much in her new high heels.

"Maybe we should have another look at the tunnel?"

Fred looked at her, confused.

"Why?"

"I don't know, I've just got the feeling that we missed something. Call it my women's intuition…"

Fred and Velma exchanged amused looks; they had encountered Daphne's "women's intuition" in the past, and it hadn't always had a good outcome. The last time they had put their trust in it, they had nearly lost the Mystery Machine.

"It was just a tunnel, Daph," Fred replied. "It only had the one entrance here, and it only led to the field."

Daphne shook her head.

"I still want to take another look."

Since Daphne's "women's intuition" was the only lead they had, the group returned to the tunnel and opened it, then began the awkward descent into the slimy, mucky death trap that was the tunnel.

After ten minutes of walking, Shaggy suddenly stumbled on something. It looked like an innocent rut in the floor, but Shaggy insisted that it had moved when he'd caught his foot. He knelt down, getting steadily to the point where it was hazardous to stand near him due to the gelatinous filth he was coated in, and pushed it hard. The rut did move, and as soon as it did a flap opened in the wall next to the gang. Daphne, with a feeling of triumph, led the way in. Fred and Velma exchanged looks again, only this time they were looks of surprise and amazement. For once, Daphne's famous intuition had helped, not hindered, the mystery.

A thin voice was coming out from somewhere. It was clearly not Sugey's; it was a male voice, tired and slightly weak.

"I have you. Mystery Inc. will fall into my trap at any moment. I will never let them escape… not after what they did to me…"

Fred drew in his breath sharply.

"So who's going to go in? What do we do now? If we walk in there, we're walking into a trap, and by the sound of that guy, probably something pretty nasty would happen to us."

Dr Patterson nodded.

"And that's why I'm going in."

"Dr Patterson, no!" exclaimed Velma.

But the science teacher was already making his way into the small opening, holding up his hands. Sugey screamed as she recognised her teacher, but the thin voice only hissed "Silence, girl!" and then fell silent again, contemplating the man before him.

"Who are you?" came the thin voice, after a pause.

"I'm Dr Harry Patterson," Dr Patterson replied, still holding his hands in the air. "I found this tunnel. Who are you?"

"David Carswell," the voice replied, and the gang drew in breath as one; this was the guy who had tried to rob his own bank and the guy who had been behind the mask of the Creeper so long ago…

"I was the Creeper, once. I was a bank robber, but a bank manager, at the same time. I tried to fool Mystery Inc. when they got their interfering noses stuck into my business, the fools. But that group of teenage twerps won the battle. I was thrown into prison with no promise of ever seeing the light again.

"Well, two months into my imprisonment, my health, before sturdy, began to wane. I was diagnosed as having a rare heart disease, which meant I would die within five years. Since the judge decided that I should be given the dignity of living out my final few years out of jail, I was released. But while I was in that prison, with guards past my door every brutal second of the day, I was dreaming up my punishment for Mystery Inc… they would pay for what they did to me… I was determined that they would…

"And this is what I did. I researched them by hacking into state files. The leader first, then the others. And what did I learn? That one of them had a young sister, one who would be easy to use as a lure, and that she would be singing in a school concert soon. I found that out on her Bebo page. She was telling all her little friends about it. I was so happy… I had my lure. But would my plan have worked without the little quirks I added? The tunnel in the stage, which you found; the costume of the headless ghost, which I made in prison; the magnet system which slammed the doors and trapped the audience in the hall; a little tinkering with the famous Mystery Machine, to ensure it didn't start for a while, that one was only partially successful; and my little prison chamber, which I intended those fools to be trapped in permanently and to starve to death in. All the little special effects that I learned in prison, they came in very handy for my plan. And the school was so close to where I was based, it was almost as though the heavens had planned for this to happen, and that they intended me to have my revenge…

"And I'm afraid that nobody is going to stop me. So, Mr Patterson…"

"Dr Patterson, actually," Dr Patterson replied evenly, although Velma saw his hand edge towards his pocket and that it was shaking. She grasped Fred's arm hard, for no reason other than it was the closest living thing she could grasp, and edged a little closer to the opening. Carswell took a deep breath, and then carried on talking.

"Well. I'm going to have to keep you here, in case you know Mystery Inc. and might tell them, and then once they are mine I will let you go. By that time I will be long gone anyway. You would never find me. And soon I will be gone anyway. My health is so bad now; I doubt I will live another five days. My doctor wanted me to go into hospital, but I said no. I wanted to succeed with my plan to take those meddling kids with me into the afterlife… They will pay for inflicting such misery on me… I want them in my grasp… AHA!"

Velma had been edging forwards more and more, unable to believe what she was hearing, and suddenly realised that he could see her head, although only in shadow. She quickly stepped back and trod hard on Scooby's tail.

"ROUCH!" Scooby yelped, before realising what he had done. Carswell's eyes grew wider as he realised that he had just told Mystery Inc. his plans to do them in, and that the whole of Mystery Inc. was in his little hidey-hole, at his mercy.

"Mystery Inc.! How I have anticipated this day…"

He reached over with one trembling, slightly bloodless hand and pressed a button on the metal control panel next to him. The entrance to the cave was suddenly locked. Fred, no longer caring that he might be seen, rushed across and tried to open it.

"The leader, here at my mercy…" grinned Carswell, reaching over to the panel again and pressing a second button. A huge plexiglass divide came down between Fred and the rest of the gang, slamming its way onto the floor. Daphne screamed, "Freddy!" and charged towards the plexiglass, hammering it with her fists and beginning to panic. With a grin, Carswell brought down a second divide, this time separating Daphne from the others. Velma, Shaggy and Scooby huddled together, not wanting to be separated, and could see Dr Patterson calmly sneaking behind Carswell as the manic-seeming man laughed wildly, watching as Daphne became more and more agitated inside her plexiglass cage.

With the sudden flick of a switch, the plexiglass suddenly retreated into the ceiling, freeing Fred and Daphne (who both looked relieved and rushed to the rest of the gang) and opening the huge door that had covered the entrance.

Carswell turned round with a roar of rage, and Dr Patterson reacted as quickly as a bolt of lightning; in barely a second he was pointing a Taser at the man, his eyes fierce. Daphne screamed and clung to Fred, mistaking it for a gun.

"This would probably stop your heart for good, and if you think we'd save your life after all this you've got another thought coming," Dr Patterson hissed, his chest heaving. He turned and looked towards Mystery Inc.

"Guys, get out of here. Take Sugey and get back to the school. I'll tie up this guy and bring him, but I want you to be safe. I don't trust him as far as I could throw him."

Shaggy and Scooby walked forwards and took the keys for Sugey's cage, which was clearly visible in the corner when they walked into the cave, and unlocked it. Sugey, clinging to her brother and missing one shoe, made her way away from the cave with Shaggy and Scooby. When they were at the door, Daphne rummaged in her bag and found Sugey's missing shoe, which she handed to the young girl without a word. Sugey took it and put it on and, with a smile of gratitude to Daphne, vanished into the tunnel.

But Carswell was not to be defeated so easily.

"My plan will WORK!"

He suddenly thrust his sharp elbow up and Dr Patterson crumpled with a sharp cracking sound. The Taser fell to the floor in his limp fingers and was fired at Velma, who shrieked and fell to the ground. Daphne rushed to her friend, but Fred ran towards Carswell and tried to snatch the Taser out of the man's hands. It discharged and hit the wall, missing Fred by centimetres, and Fred doubled his efforts to wrestle it away from the man. Carswell took one more look at the three and stood shakily, then punched Fred in the gut and started running towards the wall, which opened as he rushed towards it and revealed a tunnel…

"Come on!" Daphne gasped to Fred, who straightened up with some effort and started running after him; Carswell's blow to his stomach had doubled him over. Velma groaned slightly as they vanished, leaving her in the cave alone apart from the unconscious Dr Patterson. She felt no resentment for them, only a slight tinge of panic at being left without them. Slowly and painfully she stood up and, accepting that in her condition there was little she could do in the chase that she presumed was now in action. Instead, she crawled over to Dr Patterson and began trying to wake him up.


	13. Chapter 13

Fred and Daphne tore through the tiny, slippery tunnel that Carswell had disappeared into, both gasping for breath and aiming for the speck in the distance that was Carswell. He was a good runner, even with his bad heart, and the two were finding it hard to catch up.

Eventually he became clearer, and the two were gaining on him slowly, guessing that sooner or later his heart would have to give out.

Then it did.

All Fred and Daphne saw was the small figure falling, clutching at his chest. Daphne gave a cry of shock and they doubled their efforts to reach him.

When they did reach him it was obvious that they could do very little. Daphne pulled her phone out and immediately rang for an ambulance. Fred knelt beside the inanimate man, feeling his neck for a pulse. He shook his head when Daphne looked at him questioningly and she refused to believe it until the ambulance arrived and pronounced him dead. The police arrived with them, since the call had been from Mystery Inc., and heard the whole story.

"I would never have guessed Carswell would have sunk to this," said the police sergeant in charge of the area, a young dark-haired man appropriately named Sergeant Will Carsbane. "He seemed much more respectable when he was the bank president around here. Such a talented man, very intelligent- not in my wildest dreams did I think he would die trying to outrun Mystery Inc. I take it that neither of you were hit by the Taser?"

They shook their heads.

"But Velma was, and he knocked Dr Patterson out; I think we should go back and see if they're OK."

Fred nodded and the three walked back through the fields where they had pursued Carswell, and back into the tunnel that had been his last escape route. Velma and Dr Patterson were still there, but Dr Patterson was sitting up and rubbing blood off his face when the small group went in; Velma suspected a broken nose. She was OK after being hit by the Taser, just a little shaky. She leaned on Fred as they walked back along the tunnel back to the school. As soon as they'd reached the school building and met up with the others, she and Dr Patterson were taken to hospital at Mr Green's request, seeing the state they were in.

Fred and Daphne felt equally shaken, having just seen Carswell die in front of them. Daphne threaded her arm into Fred's for comfort and he gave her a small smile, if a tremulous one. Daphne could sense that there was something he wanted to tell her, but maybe didn't know how to tell; his eyes didn't quite meet hers, and she leaned towards him and tried to look straight into them.

"Are you OK?"

He nodded, breaking the brief eye contact they had had. She put her hand under his chin and tried again to get eye contact with him.

"You sure?"

He nodded again, but somehow his eyes met hers properly this time. Daphne still felt a little uncertain of what he was trying to intone, but she leaned her head forwards until it was almost touching his and their lips were almost touching.

Another fraction of a centimetre and they would be kissing…

But he suddenly pulled his head away and walked over to the brick wall next to the school entrance, leaning against it and looking into the ambulance. Daphne didn't know what to say to him, but instinct told her to follow him and she did. She didn't speak to him; she just wanted to let him know, by her presence, that she hadn't meant to hurt him or anything like that.

She hoped he understood.


	14. Chapter 14

A week later and the funeral of late bank president, bank robber and wannabe killer, David Carswell, was held.

For obvious reasons, none of the gang, nor anyone from Coolsville High, attended.

Carswell would have been charged with false imprisonment, using a Taser without a licence, assault (to Velma, Sugey and Dr Patterson) and an assortment of other motley crimes which would have put him back in jail for about another forty years. The only thing holding the police back was the small matter that he was dead.

Sugey settled back into her normal life, and even agreed to sing for the next Open Day, to finish the solo she had looked forward to so much and had been rudely interrupted by Carswell's little prank. Shaggy was relieved, and after the event the Rogers parents noticed a massive difference in how civil they were to each other. Sugey, it transpired, had been a little jealous of her brother, landing in Mystery Inc. with his friends, but now that she had seen them in action either that had passed simply due to the fact that they had rescued her, or perhaps she had seen that life in Mystery Inc. wasn't as glamorous as it appeared on the outside. Either way, the Rogers household was a lot quieter now, much to the parents' relief.

The gang were given a reward from the police for rescuing Sugey and so was Dr Patterson, although he insisted that the gang did most of the work and donated most of the reward to them as well, out of gratitude and the feeling that they were more deserving of the money. Although it was courteously refused by the three members of the gang who weren't addicted to pizza pie, the two who were gladly accepted and spent the money, in one go, in Mamma Madras's, the well-accustomed-to-Shaggy-and-Scooby Coolsville pizza house. Looking at the pile of food in front of Shaggy and Scooby, Velma remarked that it was no wonder Mamma Madras was the highest-performing pizza house in Ohio, seeing as Shaggy and Scooby lived so near.

Overall, the mystery was wrapped up firmly… and unlikely to be opened again…

Or was it?

THE END

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the story! Please review it (I start singing when I get a review out of pure joy- nah, joke, I just love them) and keep tuned if you liked it!


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